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Judge: Plea for Phillhaven incident not enough

Saying he had grave concerns about the proposed sentence, a Lebanon County judge on Wednesday rejected a plea deal for a Lancaster County man charged with using a gun to gain release of his girlfriend from Philhaven in West Cornwall Township last sum

Judge: Plea for Phillhaven incident not enough

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Elliott Ravert's adoptive father said his son thought he was rescuing his girlfriend when he went to the West Cornwall Township facility with a handgun

Elliott N. Ravert(Photo: Submitted)

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Ravert's defense attorney said his client's birth mother had opiates and alcohol in her system when he was born.

Saying he had grave concerns about the proposed sentence, a Lebanon County judge on Wednesday rejected a plea deal for a Lancaster County man charged with using a gun to gain release of his girlfriend from Philhaven in West Cornwall Township last summer.

Judge Bradford H. Charles said he could not go along with the agreement that would have sent 19-year-old Elliott Ravert of Narvon, Lancaster County, to Lebanon County prison for 11 ½ to 23 months.

“I have grave concerns about this plea agreement,” the judge said.

He said the 23 months of Ravert’s length of supervision was not enough and should be longer.

The judge rescheduled Ravert’s sentencing for May 31.

Ravert was in Charles’ courtroom to be sentenced for an Aug. 9 incident at Philhaven. Police said he took a handgun to the mental health facility to take his girlfriend, Alicia Buzzard, then 21, who lived in Heidelberg Township at the time, from the facility.

Ravert pulled the gun on two nurses so he could free Buzzard from the behavioral health care facility at 283 S. Butler Road in West Cornwall Township, where she had been the previous two weeks, police said. No one was injured.

He pleaded guilty March 21 to burglary and two counts each of aggravated assault, terroristic threats, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment and criminal coercion. Charges of robbery and criminal trespass were to be dismissed.

Defense attorney M. Jason Asbell said the agreement called for punishment and treatment. According to terms of the agreement, Ravert would have been required to apply for admission to one of two in-patient treatment facilities after he was paroled from prison. The defense attorney said Ravert would be in a treatment facility to address long-term mental health issues. He said he expected the in-patient treatment would be for six to 12 months.

Psychologist Jonathan Gransee said Ravert suffers from reactive attachment disorder. People with the disorder fail to attach emotionally with caregivers in infancy, which results in emotional confusion and difficulty trusting people, Granesee said.

Ravert also was diagnosed in the past with intermittent explosive disorder and autism, he said.

Ravert was adjusting to being without medication possibly for the first time in his life when the incident at Philhaven happened, Gransee said. Ravert stopped taking his medications because he wanted to join to Marines, the psychologist said. In addition, he was faced with being separated from Buzzard. The combination of the two events were “a perfect storm,” Gransee said.

Ravert’s adoptive father, Brian Ravert, said he and his wife adopted him while he was about 18 months old. Asbell said Ravert’s birth mother had optiates and alcohol in her system when he was born, and he suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome.

Brian Ravert said his son wants to be loved and once told him, “I don’t want to die alone.” He wanted a girlfriend and found one in Buzzard, his adoptive father said.

“He thought this was the end of the world. He fell head-over heels for her,” he said. The adoptive father said his son thought he was rescuing her when he took her from Philhaven.

He said he believes treatment is the best place for his son.

Charles said many people who are in his courtroom on Wednesdays to be sentenced have had poor childhoods and mental health issues.

A sentence has to be rehabilitative as well as protect the community, the judge said.

He said Ravert used a gun during the incident but the defense attorney said the weapon was a CO2 gun.

That made no difference to the two nurses who were terrified by Ravert’s actions, Charles said.